Sony PSN back on-line…?
A week after a humiliating public apology for the insecurity of its PlayStation Network and Qriocity service, Sony has been forced to delay the restart of its online games services.
Sony, whose officials had repeatedly bowed as part of their self-abasement for the service crisis, has taken low-key approach to extending the PSN return-to-service delay, making the announcement on a company blog.
“We were unaware of the extent of the attack on Sony Online Entertainment servers, and we are taking this opportunity to conduct further testing of the incredibly complex system,” the blog post says.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the cost of the The Great Sony Cock-Up of 2011™ could reach US$1 billion, taking into account both the cost of fixing and securing the PSN systems as well as the cost of lost business. This includes the million-dollar identity theft protection program Sony detailed on May 5th, so far outlined for US customers only, but to be extended to other countries.
Sony’s reputation suffered further last week when it emerged that the company had left customer details exposed on a ten-year-old server. That customer data related to a sweepstake competition in 2001, and the company said it did not include sensitive information like credit card data or social security numbers.
While not associated with the PSN attack, the latest incident adds to Sony’s reputation for lax security.